Background letter from Douglas Bailey:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in the development of a discussion
draft standard for chicken meat being prepared for the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe. At the March 2000 Meeting of Experts of the
Specialized Section on the Standardization of Meat, the United States agreed
to lead the development of a discussion draft, working closely with
delegates from France, Great Britain, and Brazil. Names and contact
information for those that have agreed to assist with the development of
this draft are included as an attachment to this letter. There will be a
Meeting of Rapportuers on 25 to 27 September 2000 in Campinas, Brazil, to
prepare the discussion draft for presentation to the next Meeting of Experts
scheduled for 25 to 27 April 2001 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva,
Switzerland.
Enclosed is a draft that I have prepared as a starting point to assist us in
our task. To prepare the draft, I have used my recent experience developing
a U.S. standard for chicken that closely resembles the UNECE format used
for describing beef and pork. All points of this draft require review and
are subject to revision by our working group.
The task of our working group is to ensure that we have a presentation
format that will allow us to describe all raw (uncooked) poultry products
that move in international trade, as well as the processing and packing
options used to market them. To do this, I suggest that we proceed in the
following sequence:
- Ensure that the set of characteristics defined by the
product and packing grids are complete enough to represent all features of
economic value to buyers and sellers;
- Ensure that the list of specified options for each
characteristic is complete enough to represent all options found in
internationally traded products; and
- Ensure that a complete set of product descriptions
exists for all meat items moving in international trade, using narrative
statements, product photos, and cutting diagrams as appropriate.
To assist the working group members in understanding how the proposed
product and packing grids can be used to describe poultry products, I will
provide all members with a copy of the U.S. trade descriptions for poultry,
once available. This standard was developed using the UN/ECE format, and
will be issued to the public in July 2000.
It is my hope that when we meet in September we can discuss what changes are
needed to the enclosures to have a draft standard suitable for presentation
to the meeting of Experts planned for April 2001. If you have any questions
about the draft or the task of our working group, please contact me by
e-mail at Douglas.Bailey@usda.gov.
I look forward to meeting and working with each of you!
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